Dissertation!

After many months slaving over it my dissertation is finally done! I don't think I've ever been so relieved in my whole life; it had started to feel like I was trying to scale a mountain whose peak I was never going to reach. It turned me into a hermit; friends stopped inviting me to do things because of my standard response - I can't I'm working on my dissertation. Not only did it destroy my social life, but it also massively interrupted my studio work, I'm now really looking forward to picking up a pencil and drawing again after what feels likes months! 

So far I have not really discussed my interest in taxidermy; but I'm a huge fan, I love most forms of taxidermy, traditional, artistic, anthropomorphic, and bad! I'm particularly fond of traditional taxidermy though, and love antique specimens. For my dissertation I struggled for a really long time deciding what to write about; whilst I am obviously a real fan of textiles, having dedicating the last three years of my life to it, I find I really don't enjoy writing about it. For me textiles is something that you do, it should be hands on, you should be able to handle a piece of textiles to see the weight of it and the texture, something that you can't get on a page of writing. Finally I stopped tying to think of textile subjects that I could stay interested in, long enough to write 5,000 words and tried to think of the things that interest me. Taxidermy was the only thing that caught my attention and held it. 

In fact I was so interested in writing about it, that once I started to plan the essay I realised that 5,000 words would not be enough; so against my better judgement I applied to do the extended 10,000 word essay. Although I was passed the deadline for applying for this, I obviously sounded confident enough that they let me do it anyway (something that I regretted many times when writing it!). The essay investigated the process of taxidermy and how the craft has progressed since we started doing it; it also explored the conservation of taxidermy and the value of preserving antique specimens, and the importance that they play in modern society. It also questions how the context of a specimen enables the viewer to make meaning from it. 

Although I was really pleased with the finished essay, the one thing that I was disappointed about was the fact that I never got to have ago myself. I had booked a course in London to mount a squirrel myself, as I really wanted to experience what I was writing about for myself. unfortunately the course was cancelled the day before I was due to do it, and despite several attempts to re-book the course it never happened. I am also yet to receive a refund - but thats a rant for another day. Despite this I feel that the essay was fairly successful and I now I just have to wait and hope that it will get me a good enough grade. 

The finished dissertation, bound and ready to be handed in!